A great amp sim can take your guitar recordings to the next level since not many of us can record a 100-watt tube head at home. There are attenuators, sure, and lots of modern amps are being built with direct outs for “silent” recording. Still, a tube head with an attenuator is not only more expensive than a virtual amp, but takes up real physical space and obviously weighs a heck of a lot more. Going the plugin route is a very reasonable alternative these days!
If you’re just stepping into the amp plugin game, this list should give you some good starting points with longtime favorites as well as more recent breakthroughs in amp sim technology. These are a handful of the best amp sims, both free and paid, in 2023!
Best Amp Sims (Paid)
Arguably one of the best things about software is how affordable it is. As guitarists, we know how crazy expensive real amplifiers and pedals can be; that’s not to mention any of the extra stuff we’d have to buy to record a tube head at home at reasonable levels, like an attenuator or an isolation cabinet. Plugins are comparatively cheap to hardware, and while it’s tough to replicate the feel of playing through a nice tube amp, cost is most certainly a factor for most of us.
Many plugins also offer a diverse tonal palette, like a large selection of amp emulations, effects pedals, cabinets, microphones, and more. So with certain amp sims, you’re really getting a whole collection of different gear for any tone imaginable.
1. Line 6 Helix Native
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Line 6 are no strangers to amp and effects modeling. They’ve been doing it for over 20 years. It all started in 1996 with the AxSys 212 physical amplifier with onboard digital effects and simulation. When Amp Farm TDM released in 1998, it was a revolutionary piece of software bringing classic guitar amp tones straight to Pro Tools. By the end of 1998 into 1999, they’d mastered the iconic Pod—a kidney-shaped desktop amp and effects modeler.
One of the best amp sims of its kind, Helix Rack debuted in 2016 to compete with Fractal Audio’s AxeFX and the Kemper profiler. One year later, Helix Native brought the same technology inside the hardware unit to the DAW as a standalone app or a plugin insert. Helix Native is flexible, it sounds great, and it’s easily one of the best software amp sims you can get.
2. IK Multimedia AmpliTube 5
AmpliTube by IK Multimedia is massive. When the first version of the software came out almost 20 years ago, it was the first plugin that modeled the entire signal chain of a guitar/bass rig. It’s only gotten better with time, and is available at different price points. There’s even a free version that comes with 41 gear models, while the next step up includes 80 models for $150. The most complete version of AmpliTube 5 includes a staggering 400 models of amps, effects, cabinets, microphones, and more. There’s also a section for adding rack effects, like classic outboard EQs and compressors.
- RELATED: AmpliTube 5 Review
3. Native Instruments Guitar Rig 6 Pro
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Guitar Rig Pro 6 is a multi-effects processor and amp sim. The amp section contains dozens of modeled classics, but the real magic is in the effects. After picking an amp, you’d begin to piece together a creative tone from any of the 70 included effects to really take things to the next level. Effects come provided by Native as well as Softube.
4. Neural DSP
Neural DSP develops standalone amp sims plugins. Rather than a huge suite of amps and effects, Neural DSP meticulously recreates individual amplifiers, like the Soldano SLO-100, various Fortin amplifiers, an Omega Granophyre, and more. Each comes with select number of effects and impulse responses. Their Archetype series is a collection of signature plugins from guitarists like Tosin Abasi, Cory Wong, Plini, Tim Henson, and Adam ‘Nolly’ Getgood.
5. Positive Grid BIAS Amp 2
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BIAS Amp 2 is actually a virtual amp builder. When you open up the interface you’ll be able to switch tubes, preamp and power amps, transformers, and more. The BIAS Amp 2 also lets you profile the sound of any miked up guitar amp, or you can import an audio file to create a digital simulation of it.
6. Blue Cat Destructor
Destructor is a distortion simulation and amp modeler. The name suggests high-gain territory, but it’s equally capable of producing softly compressed guitar tones and even crystal clean sounds. Blue Cat bases their modeling on what they call the perceptual model as opposed to the painstaking process of emulating hardware electronics. This means that the signal chain is bare minimum, and the sounds are made to fit into the mix effortlessly.
7. Scuffham S-Gear
S-Gear is another high-quality suit of amp sims, effects, and speaker cabinets. Like many of the others, it can run as a standalone app or as a plugin in any DAW.
8. Waves PRS SuperModels
Waves and PRS teamed up to emulate three of their most valued amplifiers: the high-gain Archon, the Dallas, and the Blue Sierra. The SuperModels amp sim plugins also come with additional features not found in the real thing, such as a tone-shaper replicating an overdrive boost, a digital tuner, and an intelligent noise gate.
9. Kuassa Matchlock
Mathchlock by Kuassa is an amp simulator running the company’s third generation of simulation technology. The amplifier itself is inspired by Fender combo amps for a traditional vintage American-style tone. Matchlock has an incredibly intuitive interface allowing you to select and position various microphones on the speaker cabinet in an easy way.
10. Softube Amp Room
Amp Room by Softube is a carefully curated selection of amplifiers, effects, speaker cabinets, and analog emulated studio outboard equipment for a professional workflow and signal path. Softube’s analog recreations are second to none, and the newly reimagined Amp Room contains all of the favorite amplifiers from the previous editions of the software in a single bundle for a truly professional platform for guitar and bass.
11. JST Toneforge
Joey Sturgis Tones offers the Toneforge series of amp sims tailored to metal and hard rock players. Iconic shredders Jeff Loomis and Jason Richardson each have signature plugins, and every offering in the series combines a unique selection of amp styles, effects, and cabinets.
12. Overloud TH-U Full
TH-U by Overloud is a complete suite of guitar and bass amps/effects. It contains 89 guitar amps, four bass amps, 50 guitar cabs and two bass cabs, 82 pedal and rackmount effects, and 18 microphones with up to four mics per cabinet. Not only that, but each amp is highly customizable thanks to their Amp Tweak technology, letting you swap out preamp and power amp tubes for extensive tone shaping.
Best Amp Sims (Free)
13. Ignite Amps Emissary 2.0
Ignite Amps‘s Emissary is a great free amp sim plugin for modern metal. It features two channels, the first of which can run clean to overdriven and crunchy, while the second is designed for blistering high-gain tones.
14. LePou Plugins
LePou Plugins have a handful of free amp models available, from classic Marshall Plexi, to Mesa Dual Rec, to ENGL, and more. There’s a flavor for everyone in this free set of standalone amp sims.
15. Amp Designer (Logic Pro X)
If you have Logic Pro X, the included Amp Designer is a brilliant sim in and of itself. It, too, includes different amp and effects emulations, and contains a wide variety of presets for getting to your desired tone with ease.
16. Kuassa Amplifikation Lite
Amplifikation Lite is a free amp sim by Kuassa, offering a CPU-efficient platform for excellent guitar tone straight into your DAW. The amplifier features three channels and a standard three-band EQ with an added presence knob for more brilliance. This is solid introduction to the rest of Kuassa’s lineup of amp sims.
17. Nick Crow Labs 8505 Lead
At least in the world hard rock and metal, there may be no other amplifier as legendary as the Peavey 5150 (Mesa Boogie Rectifiers are a close second!). The 8505 Lead by Nick Crow Labs is a straightforward emulation of one of the tightest, grittiest high-gain amps ever developed.
18. Blue Cat Audio Free Amp
Free Amp by Blue Cat Audio is a, needless to say, free amp sim by a fantastic group of developers. It includes three classic-inspired amps in the form classic clean, classic drive, and modern drive. Free Amp also lets you load your own impulse responses to truly perfect your tone in the box.
19. Audio Media Research ReValver
ReValver by Audio Media Research may just be one of the top and most in-depth free amp sims currently available. It’s incredibly intricate down to component-level modeling for an authentic and dynamic sound that’s hard to find in software. Advanced cabinet modeling lets users select and place microphones, and instrument modeling can even make your electric guitar sound like an acoustic or other folk instrument.
20. Audified AmpLion Free
AmpLion Free is the lite version of AmpLion Pro. What you get is a precise emulation of a five-channel tube amp and a pair of speaker cabinets with microphone positioning. There are absolutely no compromises to sound quality coming from the full paid version, so what you’re getting is simply a sneak peak of what the rest of the plugin offers.
Conclusion
These are but a few of the best amp sims available today. If you’re looking for the most painless way to record electric guitar at home, then look no further!
- RELATED: Top Amp Plugins for Metal